Kathmandu - The Slum City of Himalaya

Kathmandu was once one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities of Asia with its beautiful temples, stupas, palaces, rivers, forests and rice fields. The old black and white photos of the former royal photographers provide us with evidence of how Kathmandu and the Valley looked like 50 or 100 years ago. Today it is a completely different story. Kathmandu might soon become the Slum City of the Himalayas. The Bikas Binas – development and destruction – is irreversible. One cannot and should not try to turn back the clock, but rather work towards the future in a planned and organized manner. It is however not happening today.

I have known Kathmandu for 30 years, and also lived in the city in the early nineties. Today, 25 years later I live in the same area in Maharajgunj in the Northern part of Kathmandu. 25 years ago we were overlooking the beautiful water streams and rice fields. The road through Bansbari – the bamboo forest – and the rice fields was wonderful. Today there are just concrete houses and workshops everywhere.

It is the same all over the Kathmandu Valley. A few major roads have been widened and paved in the central parts of Kathmandu in recent years, but if you take one of the smaller side roads it is a completely different story. All over the city and the Valley there are muddy dirt tracks filled with potholes. The rapid expanding outskirts of Kathmandu have no proper infrastructure.

Today most people in Kathmandu have no reliable electricity or portable water supply. The infrastructure is appalling. The rapid and uncontrolled expansion of Kathmandu and its outskirts has led to unmanaged settlements, pollution of waterways and public lands, haphazard solid waste disposal and air pollution. Much of the rich cultural heritage and architecture have also disappeared. Kathmandu is loosing it charm and identity as a centre of culture, arts and heritage.

When I go around in Kathmandu and the Valley, it happens that I stop the car to get a sense of the surroundings and of how people are doing. Many are poor people, who have migrated from the rural districts or from India to the capital in search of livelihood opportunities and basic services. This is what I see is happening to Kathmandu and the Valley.